The United States does not take a traditional approach to anti-access / area denial (A2/AD) that focuses on regional defense. Instead, its version is tailored to its global posture.
Whereas the concept of an “Anti-Access/Area Denial” (A2/AD) system is typically first attributed to China, which has used A2/AD to establish a regional buffer around their homeland, the concept can also be attributed to the United States, who has one of the most formidable A2/AD toolkits in the world. Notably, unlike China—who uses A2/AD for regional defensive purposes, as well as to head off a potential American response to regional aggression—the US possesses an expeditionary force tasked with implementing a globally interventionist foreign policy. Accordingly, America’s A2/AD capabilities are often used as a complement to power projection rather than defense of the homeland, whereby the United States leverages its unique combination of global force posture, advanced tech, and alliance networks to establish what are functionally A2/AD zones all over the world—an feat that only America could come close to executing.
America’s Submarines Are Masters of “Sea Denial”
The US’s global A2/AD capabilities would not be possible without an unrivaled submarine fleet. The US Navy’s nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) and guided-missile submarines (SSGNs) can stealthily patrol contested waters anywhere in the world, threatening enemy naval forces, or interdicting ships, with a slew of torpedoes and land-attack cruise missiles. Capable of creating invisible denial zones, including at strategically vital zones like the Strait of Hormuz or the first island chain of the Pacific, US submarines are nearly impossible to track or neutralize, making them the tool of choice for sea denial.
US surface vessels complement the undersea fleet, with world-class destroyers and cruisers, all outfitted with long-range ballistic missile defense, sea-based air defense, and precision strike capabilities. US surface vessels are able to form protective bubbles, shielding allies and deterring enemy missiles. The result is something like a moving fortress at-sea. And of course, the Navy can deploy carrier strike groups, while themselves more vulnerable, are capable of imposing zones of exclusion through launching McDonnell Douglas F/A-18s and Lockheed Martin F-35Cs.
US Missiles Provide “Air Denial”
Long-range strike options, like the Tomahawk cruise missile, the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Extender Range (JASSM-ER), and the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) give the US the capability to target adversary bases, ports, and fleets from hundreds of miles away. Then, an unmatched fleet of strategic bombers, further enhance the US’s long-range strike capability—especially the stealthy Northrup Grumman B-2 (and the forthcoming Northrup Grumman B-21).
Air dominance adds another layer of area denial. The United States is unmatched with respect to aircraft quality and quantity, with fifth-generation fighters like the Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-35 capable of imposing localized denial zones over enemy air forces.
America Is Even Working on “Space Denial”!
The US has the world’s most sophisticated satellite network, offering robust space and cyber capabilities, enabling constant surveillance and precision targeting. Furthermore, US cyber capabilities can degrade an adversary’s capabilities, including communications, navigation, and command-and-control networks. Granted, this is not physical denial, but information denial—a way to blind or confuse an opponent, through information deprivation, further enhancing the effect of physical denial.
Taken together, the United States does not take a traditional, or Chinese-like, approach to A2/AD that focuses on regional defense. Instead, the US version of A2/AD is tailored to its global posture, offering an expeditionary and flexible version of A2/AD that can be established thousands of miles from US shores, essentially on demand, anywhere.
About the Author: Harrison Kass
Harrison Kass is a senior defense and national security writer at The National Interest. Kass is an attorney and former political candidate who joined the US Air Force as a pilot trainee before being medically discharged. He focuses on military strategy, aerospace, and global security affairs. He holds a JD from the University of Oregon and a master’s in Global Journalism and International Relations from NYU.
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